


It's All An Act

by ExcuseMeMissT



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-10-11 21:44:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20553170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExcuseMeMissT/pseuds/ExcuseMeMissT
Summary: Rock the Rink tour sales are catastrophically low and Tessa and Scott need to do something about it. After mulling over a million and one ideas, their tour manager suggests a fake relationship to incur more interest. While at first it goes against all their virtues (pun intended), Tessa and Scott decide to give it a shot for the sake of their baby, I mean the tour.If they finally realize that they’re soulmates while holding up this charade, well then, can you really blame them…?





	1. ACT 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lapetitemort20](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lapetitemort20/gifts), [rookandpawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rookandpawn/gifts), [Walkinrobe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkinrobe/gifts), [echoesofstardust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoesofstardust/gifts), [mycatcanwrite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mycatcanwrite/gifts), [Denalie24](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denalie24/gifts), [PostSochiFeels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PostSochiFeels/gifts).

> This is an AU that is dedicated to my lovely ladies at the M.A.C.
> 
> And it is inspired by a VMFICCATALOGUE Tumblr anon from ages ago — YES! to the fake dating fic, 'cuz how inch resting it would be for these two. "Let's tell the world we ARE dating after all since this RTR Tour sales are so low. It wouldn't need much convincing, but we should up our dating game by 'accidentally' being spotted in obscure public places, being very cozy. We can do this! Once the tour is over, we can go on the down-low and no one's the wiser. We got this, T!" Plot twist joke's on them as they FINALLY realize it's real!

The line rings three times before Scott picks up.

“Scott, we need to talk.” Tessa sighs into her phone which is pressed tightly between her shoulder and ear as she continues to fold away clothes meticulously into her luggage.

“Hello to you too, Tess.” Scott chuckles. He can sense subtle hints of irritation in her voice coupled with a strain that makes her voice rise a pitch. Something or someone has upset Tessa Virtue and he intends to find out exactly what it is.

“I don’t have time for pleasantries, Scott. We have a very serious issue we need to discuss!”

“Hey, T, I’m driving right now so—“

On the other side of the line, she drops her floral blouse into a messy heap atop the growing pile of clothes in her small suitcase as a mild fear overtakes her senses and develops into an inane annoyance at her skating partner.

“Then why are you on your phone, Scott you know that's illegal not to mention dangerous and absolutely reckless! Scott Moir, you know better,” she scolds him, emotion coloring her voice scarlet. She pinches the bridge of her nose lightly at first realizing that she had called him and so technically it’s her fault he’s on his phone while he’s driving and if he gets fined or, God forbid, meets an accident, then it would’ve been all her fault. Tessa would’ve single-handedly ruined the greatest ice dance team of all time and incurred the wrath of both their families as well as half the world’s female population and oh, she would never be able to forgive herself! She pinches with more force to stop herself from spiraling because she cannot afford to waste her energies conjuring up disastrous scenarios, she needs to focus on this giant problem she and Scott have landed in. That, and she can feel the roots of a migraine burrowing and settling into her brain.

But before Scott can reply to her reprimand, a child’s voice pipes up from the backseat to his rescue

“He’s on the car’s Bluetooth, Auntie T.” If he weren’t driving right now, Scott would’ve turned around and flashed a boyish grin to his favorite niece for coming to his rescue. Tessa’s heart lightens a little bit and her curiosity kicks in.

“Hello there, Miss Charlotte. Thank you for letting me know otherwise your Uncle Scott would’ve had to listen to me scold his ear off. Where are you two headed?”

“I'm taking her to—“ It seems that today Scott can’t manage to get a sentence out without being interrupted by at least one cherished woman in his life. He shakes his head as if Tessa is there to see his casual defeat but catches himself while Charlotte explains their current situation to Tessa.

“He’s taking me to my skating lesson! Dad was busy and Mom had to take care of Cruz, who is sick, and Grandma and Grandpa were going to the farmer’s market so Uncle Scott said he’d take me _and_ show me some cool, new moves that I can show off to my friends! He’s the best!”

That last exclamation makes Scott puff his chest with pride and his niece automatically becomes all the more endearing. He really can’t wait to get on the ice with her after her lesson and show her a couple of edge strokes and spins. In the past three years, Scott hadn’t been able to spend a lot of time with his ever-growing gaggle of nieces and nephews because he was living his dream skating with Tessa and conquering the ice dance field with their transcendent expertise and expanding into the show skating world with their Thank You Canada Tour. That was probably the only downside of the comeback, missing out on family— but Scott would never regret his decision to come back to skating because firstly he got to be with Tess again and secondly, when he landed back in Canada with not one, but two gold medals around his neck, the pride he saw coloring the ecstatic faces of his various family members was something he knows he will never experience again. 

“My, my what an exciting afternoon you two have planned for today. Tell Cruz I hope he gets better and give him a kiss from me, please. Your uncle really is the best, Char. Umm, Scott, I’m catching a flight back to London at two PM so if it's possible, could you please come pick me up form the airport? I have some very important RTR concerns to discuss with you, we could probably grab dinner too.”

“Of course, Tess. You don’t need to ask, I don’t have anything planned for the rest of the day so I’ll come to get you after I drop Charlotte back home. Is everything OK? I thought things were running smoothly since I hadn’t heard back from the sponsors or the organizers.”

“I wouldn’t say everything is A-OK but I think we can find a workaround over our predicament…? I’ll catch you up on the details in person, right now I gotta check-in and head to the airport.”

“Alright but, Tess, you know its only eleven AM right now,” He has to tease her about her punctuality— the opportunity presented itself and let it be known that Scott Moir does not let opportunities like this to slip from his grasp. only Tessa Virtue would arrive at the airport three hours before her flight and it’s a habit she’s drilled into him as well.

“Yes, of course, I’m aware but I don’t see why it’s worth mentioning.” Her tone of voice is leveled and he can hear her zipping up her suitcase, no doubt after having checked it meticulously to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.

“It’s nothing, have a safe flight, Tessa Jane. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Bye-bye Auntie T! Come visit me please, I miss you.” Charlotte insists, letting a small, childlike whimper in the end.

“Thanks, Scott. I miss you too, sweetheart. Tell you what, why don’t you come grab me from the airport with your uncle and we can drop you off at your parents’ after lunch. Sound good?”

“Yaaayyyyy!” Both uncle and niece exclaim as Scott presses the end call button and shifts his gear into parking.

After helping Charlotte out of the car and with her sparkly pink skating bag, Scott’s mind can’t help but wonder about the pressing concerns Tessa wanted to talk about. They had Sam working out new choreography for fresh, new routines in the fall. They had just received confirmation from Birds of Bellwood for the live entertainment segment of their tour. They had eleven enthusiastic cast-mates and a more than happy off-ice crew willing to sign contracts by the end of June.

Sure, they would’ve liked Eric and Meagan to join the cast so that they had a wider array of talent on display but with Megan due to give birth by fall, Tessa and Scott were just happy that their pseudo-wine- aunt friend had things working out for her just the way she wanted and was starting a family with the man she loved. They had tentatively discussed recruiting Eric to play melodies on his piano and mesmerize the crowd on a couple of tour dates but there hadn’t been any solid outcome to that conversation. And Eric wouldn’t want to take part in a show without Meagan as it becomes a question of loyalty, which Tessa and Scott fully understood. You always perform with your partner— they had to learn that the hard way.

What on earth could possibly be the hitch in their otherwise perfect lives…?


	2. ACT 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been an age, I know and I'm so sorry but life happened! A huge thanks to lapetitemort for being an amazing beta and to my lovely ladies at the MAC, you guys are the best.

“Bye-bye, Charlie. Be good and we’ll see you again soon.” 

“Bye, Auntie T. Thank you for today and for the moves you taught me, Uncle Scott.” Charlotte yawns as Scott and Tessa both hug the worn-out little girl and then hand her over to her equally tired mother. Tessa Two urges her daughter inside and thanks the pair for the take-out they thought to bring and then they make their way back to his truck in companionable silence.

Scott makes a little detour into the Tim Horton’s drive-thru that is conveniently close to Tessa’s London residence, instantly lightening her mood and causing a small smile to grace her lips. They pick up their usual coffee orders and two boxes of Timbits because one and a half belong solely to Tessa, though she’s queasy enough as it is about relaying some very bad news to Scott.

~

“What do you mean ticket sales are terribly low?!” Scott exclaims, appalled as he tries to analyze the graph Tessa has presented him with on her iPad.

Tessa sighs and takes the contraption from his hands. “Thats’s exactly the problem. They’re just not selling and I’m afraid we’ve gone overboard with the secrecy this year.”

She takes a stiff seat next to him on her pristine, white couch, still clad in the comfortable Adidas workout top and leggings she’d opted to wear on her flight back. Tessa taps a few more times on the screen of the iPad and then yanks Scott from where he’s sprawled behind her to attention.

“Alright, so the red bars represent Thank You Canada ticket sales and the blue bars represent Rock the Rink sales. And if you look closely, while the red bars shot up between March through May, the blue ones are always considerably lower and decreasing. Scott, we’ve amped this up way too much for us to reach a point now where our tickets won’t sell! What are we gonna do with all the arena bookings and the merchandise we’ve already ordered?!” Tessa is borderline hyperventilating and to be honest, Scott’s not doing any better. A lot of time and money had already been invested into the makings of this new tour and a lot of promises had been made to cast-mates, crew-mates and most importantly, sponsors.

“T, we can’t start panicking — it won’t get us anywhere. What did Ally say?” Scott rationalizes. Ally had been their excellent tour manager for the Thank You Canada Tour last year and she’d listen to their vision and made it her own. Last year was truly magical, a dream come true for both Scott and Tessa— the product had been exactly what they envisioned on the plane back home from Pyeongchang and a great deal of it was thanks to Ally and her exceptional management skills.

“She’s going through the stats as well, trying to come up with solutions. But she thinks that the numbers might actually drop because Meagan and Eric aren’t doing the show. She’d mentioned, and I saw stuff swirling about on Instagram and Twitter a couple of days ago, that the figure skating fans think the four of us have had a falling out and we’ve thrown them off our tour.” Tessa bows her head in disdain.

“What? That’s absolute bullshit, Tess. We would never do that to our friends.” Scott says in indignation.

“I know that, Scott, but until Meagan makes her pregnancy announcement we can’t exactly jump to our defense by ruining her moment. I’ve been saying its a “scheduling conflict” whenever I see people stirring up trouble on the Rock The Rink account. It’s just so exhausting.” Tessa finally slumps backwards, slouching into her couch and letting the ache of tiredness and travel soak into her bones and drain her dry. She rubs her temples again and then feels herself being manoeuvred until she’s sitting sideways, her back facing Scott. He begins to rub her shoulders, silently apologizing as his palms work the tension out of her worn-out muscles. They synchronize their breathing and they synchronize their heart beats unconsciously because it’s what comes naturally to them in times of distress.

“We’ve tried to make this tour as fresh and innovative as possible, Tess. I’m sure there’s many more avenues to explore but for now, lets wait till Ally has something more concrete for us and then we’ll see where to go from there.” Scott speaks in a voice so gentle, the soft whispers tickle her ear as some of the anxiousness begins to fade and she starts to relax. “There’s no point worrying, we’ve just gotta pull through and figure out how to renew interest.”

“Hmm, you’re right, Scott.” Tessa says with her eyes still closed and her forehead lines fading. But the worry still remains.

~

Two days later, the pair are sitting in Tessa’s home office waiting for Ally, who arrives in a flurry of flying papers and files clutched in one hand while her phone dangerously dangles from her other. Tessa and Scott immediately rush to help her.

“No, its ok! I got it, thank you very much.” The petite woman goes back to her phone call and mutters a couple of foreign phrases followed by “Hmm, merci. Non, grazie, grazie. Bye-bye now!” while she paces the room looking rather frazzled in her semi-casual grey pant suit and her sleek platinum bob.

“So I just got off the phone with Anna and Luca and they regret to inform you that they won’t be joining you for the tour this fall due to scheduling conflicts…” Ally lets out strikingly fast but both business partners have heard her loud and clear. Tessa slumps back against her office chair and lets her head fall onto her folded hands on the desk in defeat.

“Now what?!” Scott exclaims. “Did they say why?”

Ally chews on her lip nervously before she relays the rest of the story.”Err, we have to say that it’s a scheduling conflict but in reality, Luca blew his knee out during a lift so his recovery period is the whole of May followed by a six month physiotherapy, which seems rather excessive but what can you do about weak jointed Italians.”

On any other ordinary day, Scott would laugh at the remark but after competing with them for so long, he knows that Anna and Luca aren’t the most fluid in their entires and exists during their lifts. As he looks to Tessa, he sees worry and disappointment reflected in her expression because what this means is more bad publicity.

They’d barely recovered from Meagan and Eric’s absence and that too thanks to her announcement but one of the sponsors had backed out because they specifically invested into the tour for the pairs skaters. It was devastating when they were just left behind with The Brick and Beautyrest but now that Anna and Luca had also quit their fans would be so very disappointed.

“Ally, we need to approach this with extreme caution, the Eric and Meagan situation spiraled and we can’t afford the bad publicity anymore.” Tessa says with a contrite expression marring her face. “We need damage control options, go!”

“We can add more media days?” Ally offers.

“We already have enough scheduled, I don’t think Scott and I have the stamina to add anymore.”

“We can arrange for more promotional posts on your social media profiles.” She takes a seat at Tessa’s desk and flips open a notepad and starts jotting things down as her clientsstart to consider and discuss their options. Her mind starts to whir while watching this exchange and as the cogs turn, a brilliant idea formulates in her brain.

“We could also get the cast members and choreographers to start posting on their accounts, lets say by August?” Scott says and they both look to Ally who has a scheming smile on her face.

“Yes, yes that is a great idea. But I have an even better one.” She folds her hands under her chin and leans forward, Tessa and Scott raise their eyebrows in question and lean over the desk too.

“You two need to fake date.” Ally deadpans and the wide eyes and gasps of shock that follow are comical.


	3. ACT 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been a long time coming...  
Is everyone alright after opening night? I for one am glad because I finally have more material to work on for this fic! Enjoy this next transition chapter, beta-ed by the one and only lapetitemort20.   
\- To the MAC

“Excuse me?” Tessa gasps.

“You two will fake being in a relationship for a certain period of time to garner positive interest and that will boost our sales so that we don’t have just six people coming to the Moncton show and also to appease our two remaining sponsors.” Their lovely tour manager explains as her naturally silver hair glints in the sunlight streaming through the windows.

“NO!” They exclaim.

“No, Ally we can’t.” Tessa huffs indignantly. “Ally, I’m sorry, but that is absolutely absurd. We can’t — we can’t! That’s lying!” 

“Ally, no. We can’t lie to people, that’s not right. Especially not to sell tickets, that’s like cheating.” Scott says, his voice rising a whole octave to relay his point. 

“Think about it, at least. Worst case scenario, like a backup plan. Let’s keep it on the table, oui?” Their tour manager lounges back on Tessa’s office chair, smug as ever. 

The pair look to each other, silently conversing with their eyes and then coming to an agreement in a matter of moments.

“Look, Ally, as our tour manager and close friend we have a massive amount of respect for you and we will always co insider your sound advice. However, —“ Tessa starts and then Scott picks up where she lets off. 

“This idea isn’t exactly sound. We would never be willing to lie to our fans especially since we know they would very much like us to be… dating. It’ll be preying on their emotions and it’s unfair to say we’re in a… romantic…relationship ” He has to force that last word out because it lodges painfully in his throat. Of course, he’s thought about Tessa in _that _way but he’s never thought about Tessa in _that_ way. They’ve never crossed that line and that’s why their partnership has stood the test of time, it’s why they’ve thrived for the better part of the last twenty years. Maybe in another world, this suggestion wouldn’t have caught them off guard and they would’ve actually considered it, there’s no way that’s happening today. 

“We’re sorry but it’s going to be a no.” Tessa finishes for the both of them.

“Mon Dieu, you’re doing that weird thing again where you talk like one person, it is very disconcerting.” Ally shudders. “But no problem, we can work more on the Instagram posts and media days. I will try to see if I can get my nephew to hack into servers and advertise the tour more by making our posts more popular somehow and we will call PR tomorrow to finalize the finer details.”

They see her out and then spend some more time working on the choreography of a group number, neither of them mentioning the morbid dating idea.

~

A week later, Kaetlyn Osmond announces her retirement which in turn spurs rumors about the famed VirtueMoir retirement and speculation of when it’ll be announced. To combat disgruntled audiences, Ally conference calls Tessa, Scott, and Kat from PR and all of them simultaneously work on their tweets supporting baby Kaet and celebrating her success while carefully plugging the tour too.

It’s a stressful few hours and when the red bars drop on the ticket sales bar graph just the slightest bit further, Tessa drives to the Moir’s Skateshop, drags Scott into the backroom and starts to pace the small enclosed space as she waves the sad, sad graph in Scott’s face.

“We need to do something Scott, this is very, very bad. Were we too ambitious planning another tour? Did people only come last year because of the Olympics? It’s so confusing, they want us to retire but they don’t want us to retire? Why is this so frustrating?” Tessa’s face is flushed scarlet from the tips of her ears to the neckline of her chest and Scott’s eyes can’t help but wander and count the freckles there.

“T, you’re gonna wear a hole into the carpet. We really don’t wanna have to buy new ones for Komoka.” It’s an effort on his part to get her to calm down with a lame joke but it seems to only agitate her further.

“Scott, be serious. Hand me your phone, I’ll post the photos with Guillaume and Heather from both our accounts.” As he passes her his phone, he is finally able to comprehend her level of stress because her hands are damp with sweat. Tessa fumbles around more and then leans back against the door and lets out a long, deep breath.

“Stomach ache?” Scott inquires because he sees the way her mouth pulls down into a subtle frown, the worry lines thing her face indicating that her stomach is churning because of the nerves. Tessa’s composure is really beginning to fray at the edges now and he feels horrible for not being able to do anything to ease her worries. He silently pulls her into a hug, tucking her into the crook of his arms as he matches his breathing to her erratic rate and then slowly inhales to get Tess to calm down.

“Thank you,” she mumbles against his shoulder and then pulls back out of the hug to continue talking about where to go from here. It’s quite demotivating to be discussing their faltering tour in the back room of his family’s skate shop and when they’re unable to come up with any more options, Scott brings up _the_ idea.

“It’s a really bad idea, we can’t lie to our fans like that, Scott. It’s a question of our integrity.”

“Do we really have any other choice, T? You know they would go crazy for us like that. Especially the uh, young ones.”

“More like all of them,” Tessa remarks. “But, hypothetically, how would we go about it? It’s not like any of our past relationships have been very successful…”

“We’ll get Ally to guide us, I guess. Wait, does that mean you agree on doing this?” Scott’s skin breaks out in goosebumps in anticipation of her answer.

~

“This is wonderful! Now we can really get those tour sales back up. I will draw up a guide for you two, don’t worry Tessa, all the details will be there. The media relations consultant will help place you two at strategic locations where you are very likely to be spotted and then the news will spread itself.”

To say the Ally is ecstatic at their somewhat reluctant agreement is an understatement. She bounces around with her sweet son in her arms singing her joy and then hands him to Scott so that she can get the aforementioned people on the line and launch this plan into action before its subjects have the chance to back out.

While Scott entertains the little toddler and Ally calls up multiple other people, Tessa waits for that feeling of unease to settle in the pit of her stomach and trigger another stomach ache. However, the queasiness never makes an appearance and instead, she wonders how exactly she’ll be able to fake date her very platonic business partner, ice dance partner, best friend for the next few months before their tour begins.

It’s going to be a long five months ahead of them.


	4. ACT 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *taps mic* Anyone still here? I apologize for the wait.  
Contents of this chapter: awkward fake dates!

“Publicity stunt number one: you have the Birds of Bellwood dinner scheduled for tonight so you two will arrive at the restaurant early, sit across from each other and hold hands while you have a little drink. It’s simple, then when the band comes along, you chat them up and make them believe that there is _something more_ between the two of you. Think of it as an off-ice performance, if that makes you feel better.” Kat from public relations explains to them with animated hand gestures. She even runs her fingers across the side of Scott’s hair claiming to comb in a few strays which makes Tessa feels a slightly odd burn in her chest. 

“Your fake relationship starts now!” She ushers them into their Uber and scampers back to stand beside Ally who waves them goodbye with a smug smile adorning her face.

~

With their extensive marriage therapy throughout the years, one would think that Tessa and Scott would never feel awkward in the presence of each other because they are gold medalists in communicating with each other but then one wouldn’t have taken into account that they’ve never tried to scam the world into thinking that they’re dating. If they’ve done it unconsciously, one can’t blame them. 

“Let me take your jacket, T.” Scott offers as he pulls out her seat for her but Tessa keeps a firm grip on the shoulder strap of her back and smiles politely.

“No, thank you. It’s a bit drafty in here so I think I’ll keep it on.” She throws in a little laugh there in the end just because. It’s May but the weather has been off lately so her response is justified.

No one prepared them for this level of awkwardness

“So I really like your dress, makes your eyes go kapow!” Scott tries once again with small talk. When did they fall so low that they had to resort to small talk?

“Really? Thank you, it has pockets!” Tessa exclaims and shoves her sweaty hands into her green dress pockets to demonstrate.

“That’s so cool, my pants have pockets too, see!” Why he thought it was a good idea to pull out his pockets in the middle of a busy restaurant is beyond him because the change that clatters to the floor is embarrassing. Both of them scramble under the table to collect the coins and when they come back up and regain their composure, Tessa— sweet perfect Tessa— holds one up, “Lucky penny,” her eyes shine. It’s a superstition she gave up on years ago but the significance of it now, at this moment, tells Scott that they’ll breeze through this meal. Sorry, he meant business meeting.

The Birds are absolutely besotted with them and Tessa is hyperaware of Scott’s overall presence near her throughout the night. His hands keep reaching out for hers, to tap on the back of her palm and he keeps giving her once overs as though he’s nervous. They make friends and unofficially lock in their contracts with the band for live performances because it’s an innovative idea Chiddy came up with—something to do with feeding off the music while skating making the experience more enthralling and raw.

When the night is over, the pair high five and walk home, bidding their first public outing as a "couple” adieu.

~

“Publicity stunt number two: you two will scout the Stars on Ice show tonight and be seen laughing and giggling and cuddling. We have to ease this relationship out into the world, they need time to fantasize and speculate and want this to be a real thing before we give it to them. Also, we need to plug the tour so here’s the freshest RTR merch, put it on and be on your way now.” Kat is in a mood today, she is worn out and ready for the night to be over before it’s really started. She doesn’t even try to touch Scott’s hair today.

“Don’t text me about how it goes, tell Ally, and I will grill you two tomorrow.” She says walking back into her office and leaving Tessa and Scott standing on the street, again waiting for their Uber, clutching hats and jackets emblazoned with the RTR logo.

Tessa deposits the RTR cap on Scott’s head and helps him out of his jean jacket so he can slip on the RTR hoodie and then puts his jacket back on, looking well stuffed and suited for winter by the end of it.

~

Stars on Ice is a blast but as Scott put it —“We’re gonna smoke ‘em.”

Tessa had swatted his arm but he’d thought nothing of it may be because of all the layers or the many beers they’d downed in order to be able to watch the, err, routines this year.

“I’m telling ya, T. Our tour is gonna do so much better, hey we should do a storytime on your Instagram to show Jeff we infiltrated his layer. Yeah, we’ll plug in the tour too.” He mumbles as they make their way towards the escalators. He suddenly grabs her bag and hands her her phone but also pulls out their sunglasses.

“We’re incognito, Tess. We gotta look the part. Put these on, girlfriend.” He slurs as he gently pushes her pair onto her face and smacks a kiss onto the rosy apple of her cheek as though he’s proud of his work. 

Tessa does as she is told because her inhibitions are slightly lowered and makes a note about educating Scott on social media before opening Instagram and putting them goofing around and promoting their, much better, superior tour on her Stories before turning her phone off and strolling the chilly streets with her business partner and fake boyfriend for the rest of the night. The next day, both their tour manager and media relations manager are quite proud of yet another success and the social platforms are thriving off of them goofing around together.

~

“Publicity stunt number three: Tessa you will accompany Scott to his coaching gig and ‘try’ to appear ‘subtle’.” Kat uses air quotes so dramatically as she outlines their plan for the day. “Then once your session is over, Tessa will join you on the ice and you too will fool around and look cute while a ‘fan’ secretly takes a very, very blurry photo of you and posts it on their fan account, wreaking havoc on the mental state of the general public.”They blink up at her so that she gets the memo to finish her plan but Kat just claps her hands together and beams at them.

“I will be the ‘fan’ of course and I’ll post it off my burner account that I’ve been operating for quite some time now to establish myself as a legitimate fan. It’s strictly professional, don’t worry.” When she finishes, Kat joins them as they head out to a rink in Toronto that shall not be named.

Tessa spends her time handling one aspect of the tour logistics and definitely not checking out how good Scott’s ass looks in those sweatpants, no sir. She’s definitely smiling about how ticket sales have jumped a bit ever since they started their appearances and not about how Scott winks at her every time he skates by her.

After his class disperses and rink virtually empties out, Tessa laces up her skates and takes the ice, stretching for a bit while Scott downs a bottle of Powerade and catches his breath. They go through their old warm-up practices and then start to move on the ice as the music calls to them, in intricate step sequences, abstract patterns, and delicate swirls. After Coldplay stops, the only sound that can be heard is the scrape of their blades on the ice as they dance and tell a story without knowing what direction it’s going in. 

Kat quickly takes her picture which is blurry enough for one to be certain that the two people prancing across the ice are Tessa and Scott, and then silently slips out of the arena to leave the two idiots to their whims. She posts the picture on her twitter account with way too many emoticons and exclamation points and then turns off her notifications, choosing to indulge in an Epsom salt bath with a very fruity Lush bath bomb, complete with a tall glass of rosé.

Suffice it to say that the responses to the photo are filled with ‘OMGs’ and ‘so cutes’ and one very aggressive ‘I TOLD YOU THEY ARE SMOOSHING BOOTIES!!!’ So mission accomplished.

~

Publicity stunt number four was not planned but it is the most successful out of them all.

Tessa is going through choreography videos on her phone when she comes across one where she and Scott are dancing very passionately to a very sultry song and for a good while she is fixated on the intense look in Scott’s eyes as he maneuvers her body into turns and lifts. Towards the end of the clip, their knees knock together and she remembers him whispering ‘knees’ to her, referring to one of the keywords they used during the Olympics and the comeback.

She remembers how within seconds, his fiery trance broke and his devilish smirk that had caused her composure to break sending them tumbling into peals of laughter. They fall together onto the blue mats and keep giggling till tears stream out of her eyes and Scott is close to hyperventilating because he can’t breathe. The video ends when he gives her a very intimate caress down her arm and then she formulates her very chaotic plan.

She cuts the audio of the tape and posts it on her Instagram.

If one would like to exaggerate, they would say that news of the VirtueMoir romantic relationship spread like wildfire but that already happened a year ago and one is not exaggerating.

**_@virtuemoir4eva _**commented: I am dead

**_@VMaremyparents _**commented: Tessa! Right in front of my salad

**_@virtuetomymoir _**commented: Just look at the way he caresses her arm! They’re so in love <3

**_@TVSMrock _**commented: OMG, I need to know what song that is!

_**@tutu&scotty**_ commented: I TOLD YOU THEY WERE SMOOSHING BOOTIES

Needless to say that the response from their beloved fans is overwhelming. Both Kat and Ally text her to let her know they approve of her going rogue and Scott…

_Haha, Virtch! That was such a fun day, sway is going to be great!_

Tessa smiles her wide, dopey, cheesy smile—one that only Scott can bring out in her. Then she puts her cell phone on silent and dives into the next book on her reading list.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, just kiss already!  
Let me know what you thought about the chapter in the comment!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought, dear reader. If you'd like to yell at me come do so on twitter at [@ExcuseMeMsTessa](https://twitter.com/ExcuseMeMsTessa)  
Thank you for reading!


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